EUGENE

See also:

• HENRI

HENRI

See also:

• EUGENE HENRI BRISSON (1835– )
• BRISSON, MATHURIN JACQUES (1723-1806)

BRISSON (1835– )  , French statesman, was born at Bourges on the 31st of July 1835 . He followed his father's profession of advocate, and having made himself conspicuous in opposition during the last days of the empire, was appointed deputy-mayor of Paris after its overthrow . He was elected to the Assembly on the 8th of February 1871, as a member of the extreme Left . While not approving of the Commune, he was the first to propose amnesty for the condemned (on the 13th of September 1871), but the proposal was voted down . He strongly supported obligatory primary education, and was a firm anti-clerical . He was president of the chamber from 1881—replacing Gambetta—to March 1885, when he became prime minister upon the resignation of Jules Ferry; but he resigned when, after the general elections of that year, he only just obtained a majority for the vote of credit for the Tongking expedition . He remained conspicuous as a public man, took a prominent part in exposing the Panama scandals, was a powerful candidate for the presidency after the murder of President Carnot in 1894, and was again president of the chamber from December 1894 to 1898 . In June of the latter year he formed a cabinet when the country was violently excited over the Dreyfus affair; his firmness and honesty increased the respect in which he was already held by good citizens, but a chance vote on an occasion of especial excitement overthrew his ministry in October . As one of the leaders of the radicals he actively supported. the ministries of Waldeck-Rousseau and Combes, especially concerning the laws on the religious orders and the separaticn of church and state . In 1899 he was a candidate for the presidency . In May 1906 he was elected president of the chamber of deputies by 500 out of 581 votes .